CNN and others confirmed about an hour ago that Tom Petty died last night at 8:40 PT.

"Let's get to the point, let's roll another joint, turn the radio loud..."

Godspeed, Tom.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

On the way to the doctor this morning (ah, the joys of getting older, too bad I can’t order replacement parts, about once a year I have to go in for a cortisone shot in my left shoulder), this came on my Beatles Channel on XM:

Sometimes it’s just good to have that reminder how brilliant Martin and the Beatles were. This song captures what happens when a child leaves home to become an adult. McCartney sang the two viewpoints while Lennon sang the parent’s viewpoint on how they sacrificed for their child. Damn near perfect.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

We went to the F1 race in Austin this weekend with some friends who have a 14 year old son; the Beatles came up and I asked if he knew them: he said of course, I love them, a really great band. The kids are all right.

I remember him from the the sitcom “Soap,” where the character “Benson” premiered as the wisecracking butler.

My parents wouldn’t let me watch it, I watched some of it behind their backs. I finally finished the whole thing when it came on “Comedy Central,” it came on every day at noon and I actually built my school schedule around it. It was on Netflix to stream for a bit but it is now off.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

Like every kid born in the 1970’s I caught the Partridge Family in syndication. That and the “Brady Bunch.”

My older sister kept a poster of him on her wall....but, again, everyone’s older sister kept a poster of him on their wall during the 70’s.

My understanding of David Cassidy is he was actually a very good guitar player.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

Statistical Mechanic wrote:I was doing something else during the 1970s . . . a good period blessedly free of all that.

There was some really great music during that time and some really crappy music as well.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

Statistical Mechanic wrote:I was doing something else during the 1970s . . . a good period blessedly free of all that.

There was some really great music during that time and some really crappy music as well.

I saw in one short period toward the end of the decade The Clash, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Talking Heads, The Patti Smith Group (2x), Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Television, The B-52s, The Ramones, David Johanssen, and Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. No metal - have never liked it despite my wife's bonding with King Buzzo and my son's taste, no rap although I liked Sugarhill Gang (not a lot beyond them, sadly).

I saw The Clash in winter '79 at the Palladium in NYC, their first US tour (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... ur-w485925) and I think their 2nd show (http://cluster1.website-staging.uk/blac ... eview.html), when Bo Diddley and The Cramps opened for them; this was the tour called The Pearl Harbour Tour. I sat in the balcony. Bo Diddley's band had a very young woman playing guitar who was dynamite. But that wasn't why I was there . . . To Carson's review I'd add that The Clash seemed to occupy the stage, like a combat force, more than play on it like a band. Strobes behind Topper Headon added to the effect. It wasn't as much a concert as war. The whole event seemed very important. One of the top 5 concerts I've seen (but I have about 10 top 5 concerts LOL - 2 more from this same period, Television at My Father's Place on LI and Bob Marley at Madison Sq Garden).

The world-famous Palladium show, the one during which Paul Simonon smashed his guitar, which Patti Smith photographed and which became the cover of London Calling was months later in September IIRC. I didn't see that show.

Statistical Mechanic wrote:If I want '70s schmalzy wholesome, I would look at The Bob Newhart Show

Bob Newhart is one of the funniest human beings I’ve ever seen.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

I agree. I like Newhart so much that (a) my first trip to Chicago among the sites I asked to be shown, along with the Haymarket (scene of the 1880s riot) and Water Tower (fire), Grant Park ('68), Wrigley Field, and like that was Bob's TV office building, (b) when a statue of Bob was placed in front of that office building on Michigan Ave, I went for the dedication and (c) my wife bought us tickets to see Bob do standup in Joliet nearly 15 years ago. The show was hysterical.

Statistical Mechanic wrote:I agree. I like Newhart so much that (a) my first trip to Chicago among the sites I asked to be shown, along with the Haymarket (scene of the 1880s riot) and Water Tower (fire), Grant Park ('68), Wrigley Field, and like that was Bob's TV office building, (b) when a statue of Bob was placed in front of that office building on Michigan Ave, I went for the dedication and (c) my wife bought us tickets to see Bob do standup in Joliet nearly 15 years ago. The show was hysterical.

His one-end-of-the-telephone standup routines were his best, they are still very funny; I confess to loving his first show: my wife and I, if we get restless, have been known to watch reruns (and also Elf!) . . .

I thought I brought this up once before, my local PBS affiliate is showing “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week, The Touring Years.” Giles Martin, George’s son and Ron Howard produced it. I taped it and I’m watching it now. It’s quite good. Ringo Starr is a brilliant drummer.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

I left my DVR going and recorded a retrospective on the recording of Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band. It’s fascinating, this album was recorded right after the band decided to stop touring. Because the band was no longer restrained by making music they needed to reproduce live they experimented with different types of songs, recording techniques and styles.

Of particular interest to me was how the band and George Martin got around the technological limitations of the time. They only had 4 track tape recorders to record on, which was inadequate for their needs. They got around this by recording 4 basic tracks with the members laying the foundation of the song, then recording 4 more tracks separately and so on. They then fed the first four tracks onto a single track, the next four onto a single track and so on. In this way they could work 16 tracks onto a 4 track recording.

Martin and his engineers figured out ways to slow down and speed up the electric current into their recorders, enabling them to speed up and slow down voices and music. They actually sped up Lennon’s voice on Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds in order to make him sound younger. They coupled this with very creative tape editing to splice disparate pieces of music together. As an aside, I used to work with editing reel-to-reel tape back in the day. It is a pain in the ass but you can actually make very good edits (my skills became obsolete in the digital age, which happened right after I graduated from college. Oops, didn’t time that right... )

So, it was an interesting documentary. PBS shows some really good stuff.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

Jeffk 1970 wrote:They got around this by recording 4 basic tracks with the members laying the foundation of the song, then recording 4 more tracks separately and so on.

A cassette is a four track (2 sides of stereo). The first cheap home recording studio was a Tascam Portastudio.

portastudio.jpg

4 tracks are still basically a pain in the arse because once you bounce two tracks together they are stuck together forever and you can't change levels. To me, I think the skill came from years of experience by the engineers at Abbey Road to get the sounds "right" on the "way in". I simply made a mess on my four track and got rid of it. I went to eight track and got rid of that.

Nowadays, for roughly $600 you can get the most incredible music software that offers limitless tracks and "virtual synths". I kept and maintained all my 1980's synths which was a waste of time. You can now download a 1980s Korg Polysix for $30. I write on a Stratocaster on a little Tascam guitar recorder with FX and built-in drum machine and if something "works" then start again on proper music software.

TASCAM GT-R.jpg

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Matthew Ellard wrote:
4 tracks are still basically a pain in the arse because once you bounce two tracks together they are stuck together forever and you can't change levels. To me, I think the skill came from years of experience by the engineers at Abbey Road to get the sounds "right" on the "way in".

It also took a bunch of takes by the four members recording the original track. It’s cool to hear some of the original recordings, some of them sound nothing like what finally wound up on the record. You can find some of them on YouTube.

It speaks to the skills of the musicians involved, that and their abilities to play with one another. It also took Martin jumping in to play when needed.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

Jeffk 1970 wrote:It speaks to the skills of the musicians involved, that and their abilities to play with one another. It also took Martin jumping in to play when needed.

I think it is amazing. I imagine individuals wrote songs on a piano or a guitar or whatever. I imagine the band sat around and ran through the composition as a four piece to work out a basic vox/bass/guitar/keyboard arrangement.....but none of them would have a good idea of what the final recording would sound like.

Frankly I am surprised there aren't hundreds of "finished recordings" that simply didn't work. They would be fascinating to listen to. I think I've only heard two dropped versions of songs.

To me, I don't try to find "my own sound" but rather learn how to reproduce someone else's sound, because they made the big effort to "get it right". That means no FX but just an excellent raw compressed and EQ'd sound. FX are really only for the final mix in my mind.

Feel sorry for the Front of House mixer at a concert. That person has two hours in sound check to reproduce what was done in a studio over days.

I was never a fan but some of my friends were. Another voice of the 90’s is gone.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

They were not a favorite of mine but one of my friends used to play their CD incessantly when she drove.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

There are probably others, I interviewed about 500 bands as a music journo before calling it quits and have seen several thousand bands play live. Come to think of it, the actuarial odds seem to be quite good!

Last edited by nickterry on Wed Jan 24, 2018 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

“They say..that in Slonim they gathered in the town square 14,000 people...and all were machine-gunned. I ask you, is it possible to believe such a thing?...How can the world remain silent? It is probably not true.”
Calel Perechodnik, Polish Jew, 1942

As far as I know, the most common death of heroin-addicted people in Greece is just exactly this: They take drugs like benzodiapines, then they inject intravenous heroin, and here's the fatal comes. Something similar seems happened in the case of the big rock-star here, too, opioids with strong sleeping pills. How sad, he went for nothing, he should have known.